D. Sudhakar: A politician who vouched for rainwater harvesting

There was one little known fact about the late Minister D. Sudhakar, who generally maintained a low profile, and kept away from the limelight.

While a lot of politicians often refer to rainwater harvesting in their public speeches, Mr. Sudhakar was among those who not only vouched for it, but also adopted and promoted it. He had installed a rainwater harvesting facility at his house in Challakere of Chitradurga district as well as at his Bengaluru residence.

In a chat with The Hindu sometime ago, the Minister revealed that he used only rainwater for drinking as its quality would be superior to other sources. Hailing from a parched district like Chitradurga, he was of the opinion that rainwater harvesting was the best way to fight water shortage.

Hydrogeologist N.J. Devaraja Reddy, who has been promoting and providing consultation on rainwater harvesting, said that Mr. Sudhakar had installed the rainwater harvesting facility with a capacity of 50,000 litres about 20 years ago. “He had understood the worth of rainwater harvesting and played a role in encouraging others to adopt such a eco-friendly measure. In fact, he had taken the initiative of installing rainwater harvesting structures for two schools in his constituency when he became Social Welfare Minister in the BJP government in 2008. This had created awareness about rainwater harvesting among others,” noted Dr. Reddy.